Woodbury Bag Loading Plant Employee ID Badge

Woodbury Bag Loading Plant Employee ID Badge

<< >>
Usage conditions apply
Downloads
Description
This employee identification badge belonged to a female worker with employee number 9897 at the MacArthur Brothers Bag Loading Plant in Woodbury, New Jersey, in 1918. The plant was built and operated by the MacArthur Brothers Company. The contracting company, established in 1826, also built Camp Merritt for the United States during World War I. The plant produced smokeless propellant for shells used in World War I, and 4,000 of the 6,500 workers at the plant were women who weighed the powder and sewed the silk bags closed. The women traveled from nearby cities and towns to support the war effort, and lived at the complex in dormitories. The Woodbury plant produced over 1.3 million charges during its operation from June to November of 1918. The expansion of the scale of industry often meant that managers did not know every employee by sight, which created the need for employee identification in large plants, and concerns about espionage heightened this need during wartime.
Object Name
employee id badge
badge, employee id
date made
1918
place made
United States: New Jersey
Measurements
overall: 1 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in x 1/8 in; 3.81 cm x 3.175 cm x.3175 cm
ID Number
1992.0606.01
accession number
1992.0606
catalog number
1992.0606.01
See more items in
Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
Work
American Enterprise
Exhibition
American Enterprise
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Nominate this object for photography.   

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.

Comments

"I have possession of a badge from the same Woodbury Bag Loading Plant. I know it was one of my great aunt's and the badge number is: 9539. As there were 12 children in my grandmother's family, my mom and I aren't sure which aunt this belonged to. We have narrowed it down to 3 and would love to find out which one it belonged to, if there is a log stored anywhere. Tried Glouchester County Historical Society, but no luck there. Can you help?"

Louise Silver

Mon, 2016-08-15 23:07

Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.